Wings Academy flies by Eagles

NEW YORK, NY - It may have been a cold day outside but the action inside at Terminal 23 on Thursday in Manhattan was hot. It was a matchup of PSAL Bronx powers as #6 ranked Wings Academy took on Eagle Academy for early season borough supremacy.

For the majority of 3 quarters it looked as if Eagle was going to pull off the upset, but with Jose Perez '17 and Brian Mitchell '18 leading the way in the 4th, Wings was able to use their toughness to come back from a 12-point deficit and grit out a 65-57 victory.

Going into the game Wings was defending a 101 game PSAL Bronx regular season winning streak dating all the way back to the 2010-2011 season, and while there have been some tests in that time span, Perez noted that this was going to be one of their biggest for sure.

"We were feeling a little disrespected coming in with people saying they were the best in the Bronx this year," Perez said. "We knew they were good but we wanted to set a tone and show we are still the team to beat."

It wasn't going to be easy though as Eagle came out of the gate flying as DeMarley Smith '17 buried a 3 ball to start which got them going early and out to a quick 12-2 lead.

Perez was able to break Wings out of an early offensive funk, but with the rest of the Wings players struggling, Eagle were able to get strong performances in the 2nd quarter from the likes of Floyd Samuels '18 and Tyrese Crosdale '17 who each were able to push out in transition and help them build a 26-14 lead.

To Wings credit, they closed the half strong as Mitchell and Jordan Bryan '17 both were able to be strong going to the rim as they played key roles in a big 9-2 run to end the half and get the deficit for Wings down to 28-23 heading into the locker room.

While they may have only been down by 5 at the break, everyone involved with Wings Academy to a man knew how critical it was going to be guard Boubacar Kamissoko '17 involved if they wanted to win.

Their lead guard was held scoreless at the half and Perez said he went to Kamissoko and explained to him that he was needed if they wanted to come back and win.

"I talked to Boubacar because he didn't score at all in the first half and I told him that you are a big piece for us and we need you to get involved," Perez stated.

Wings head coach Billy Turnage said he was even harder on Kamissoko as he knew he wasn't getting the very best from a player he considers one of the PSAL's best.

Coming out of the locker room it was still all about Perez as the 6'5" wing knocked down 2 big threes early in the 3rd, but when Wings needed a big play there was Kamissoko to steal a pass with 4:43 to go in the quarter to give them their first lead of the game.

The lead was short lived for Wings though as Rayshawn Niblack '20, a talented young freshman, connected on a 3 to tie things up which went on to start a 7-0 Eagle run with Smith again showing prowess of finishing in traffic to give Eagle a 45-41 lead heading into the 4th.

With the game still up for grabs it was Eagle that jumped out early in the 4th quarter to take a 51-44 lead with 6:20 to play and at that point Turnage called a timeout to explain to his guys the situation.

"I say that we could pull up our pants and make a run at this, or we could pack it in and go home," Turnage explained to his team.

Turnage was hoping his team would respond but admitted he wasn't sure, though he hoped that their veteran leadership would pay off.

That most certainly did as Perez made sure to stress to his teammates that they weren't going to lose and they started to apply tougher defense and play the kind of Wings basketball that had been known for years.

Slowly but surely they began to chip away as they pressed a lot more and were creating more steals and forcing more turnovers which led to buckets by Kamissoko who was beginning to step up in the closing minutes.

Bryan on a put back dunk tied the game up at 53 with 3:13 to go, and then it was Mitchell with a beautiful reverse in the lane who gave Wings the lead for what proved to be for good.

It was a big bucket in a game full of big bucket for Mitchell who said he just was doing what his coach asked of him down the stretch.

"I thought about when my coach said people are down and we need to step up, and people from the bench need to step up," Mitchell said. "I just did what I needed to do."

He did much more than that as he was an integral part of the Wings comeback as his bucket was the start of a 15-2 run to put them up 59-53 wing just over a minute to play.

That run is what proved to do Eagle Academy is as they controlled the game for the most part until the final 4 minutes when it mattered most, and that is what left such a sour taste in the mouth of their head coach Ryan Queen who couldn't hide his disdain about their late game effort.

"They just out-toughed us. The last 4 minutes of the game was all toughness and no basketball and they won that by 1,000," Queen stated. "Offense, second chances, we get the rebound and we throw it away right to them because they are fighting and scratching for every ball. It was all toughness."

Eagle were finally able to get back on the board late with a straightaway 3 by Andre Marshall '17 but it was too little too late as they went 3:35 without a FG, and with far too many turnovers as when it mattered most it was the veterans from Wings who stepped up the most to help lead them to the 65-57 victory.

While the got strong 2nd half performances from numerous players it was Perez and his game high 27 points who really was the key. Mitchell added 12 points as well in the win, while Kamissoko finished with 11, all of which came in the second half.

For Eagle, it was Smith who paced the way with 23 points, with Crosdale scoring 10, though 9 of those came in the first half.

It truly was a tale of who wanted it more with Wings doing just enough late to make it 102 straight PSAL Bronx league wins in a row, and while it's a solid win in the eyes of Perez, he knows that they still have a long way to go if they want to be the last team standing come the end of the season.

"It's a great win but it's not the way we want to look and we definitely know we still have a lot of work to do."